Beer: Reviews & Ratings

A stranger walks into a bar, a traveller, rough from the road, in need of relief. The liquid kind, something to melt away the rigors he's endured and embolden the spirit for the travails ahead. He walks the length of the bar in search of a stool, and all patrons eye him with awe, reading the depth of his experience etched in his countenance.
He shuffles into a comfortable spot and the barman pivots to meet his gaze, and fulfill his needs. Anything can be had here, whiskey, wine, or cognac, foo-foo drinks and fizzy nonsense. But there's one thing that will do the trick. He needs a beer, and asks the man for the best in the house.
To the stranger's surprise, it comes not in yellow color, in a frosty, frothy mug, but a shorter vessel cast in the darkest hue. He looks skeptical at first, but on meeting the barman's eye, this distrust withers away as he divines the server's sincerity and wisdom, and he nods, accepts the brew, and sets his gaze at the glass.
A stark black body, so deep it seems to encapture all sins, and shows only a reddish light at times, the head is a tight ring around the edges, cocoa brown.
He brings the glass to his lips and is caught short...leather, blackstrap molasses, brown sugar, sassafrass, but unmistakably whiskey, kentucky bourbon. He stops and wonders if the barman got his order wrong, and figures there's only one way to find out.
Flavors converge en masse on the tongue, smothering the palate with deep, rich, darkness, they bob up, mess around, and set the palate purring. A thick feel occurs in the mouth, rich and sweet, tangy, yet comforting. Perhaps this is a side-effect of the liquor, creeping into the character of the brew. It's flavor is full and the feel of it lingers on, never leaving the mouth. Somehow, an oatmeal stout was transformed into this wicked, wonderful elixir, and it was doing wonders for the stranger, too. His demeanor changed, a smile struck out upon his features, a thing unseen on his face in some time. A wide smile, that accompanies a widening of his spirit, and he looks around at the crowd, some still rapt by his world-weary appearance, and they smile, too. And they laugh. The stranger laughs, looks into his glass and wishes that it would never end.
His travels, he knew, would continue, and take him far from this place and it's magnificent brew. But in spite of all the trouble and woe that may face him on the road ahead, he knew he had found, at least, paradise on earth in a glass of beer. (2,490 characters)

Amber-gleaming blackness. Not opaque. But fairly close. Thin brown head on top.

Full-bore bourbon assault on the nose. Swear I was smelling some Beam Black. Vanilla-tinted caramel. Damn!
Taste follows suit. Let's say I thought barrel-aging was a gimmick up to this point (And I do...sometimes). This would change everything. This tastes as though it was aged in barrels that were not yet empty of their booze. Bright bourbon characteristics. Sticky maple. All laid upon an outstanding oatmeal stout base (yeah, their "regular" Oaty Stout is tits too). Chocolate shines through, especially as it warms. Oats are manifest as well. Lightly vinous with prune notations. Not explicitly hoppy but dries as it closes. More bourbon notes and prickliness as it concludes and lingers. Vanilla bean and chewy caramel.

Seriously....this is soooo good.

Medium-full mouthfeel that just seems to fatten as it rests. Drinkable beyond explaination. This is monster stout, here.

Good Lord! I'll be sad and angry when this growler is gone.
If this was a constant offering, I'd drive the 250 miles to the Cities every week. Sometimes twice.

Taken directly out of the bourbon barrel and in to the growler. Quite lucky to have picked up one of only a few super special released growlers of this to the public. Shared with some super special friends who happened to roll into town for the evening.

Color is super dark brown, black in most light, razor thin highlights of amber at the edges when available in stronger light. Barely any head came about from any of the pours, just a very thin skim was produced. However it does keep a nice thin and foamy little collar, some lacing sticks in globs and spots but dissolve from the surface within a bit.

The aroma behind this is beastly awesome with a great bourbon wafting nose. Deep, lush, full, sweet bourbon alcoholic twinge on the nose, very refined and strong. No denying that this was made within a boubon barrel. Some cedar notes, chocolate, and vanilla baking sweetner sneak past as it warms.

Taste is wonderfully smooth and even a bit soft with a relaxing feel of light carbonation. Calming soothe chocolate tones upfront with a nice little bite of sweet bouron in every corner. Not overly complex by any means, just a sleek, refined taste of chocolate and sweet bourbon mixed together. There's a light cedared spice and alcoholic burn that comes through in the finish which really kicks it off with a lovely sweet chocolatey finish that really sticks around for a long while and gets a whole lot better as it warms hence floating away the some of its bourbon character.

Feel is quite low on the carbonation table, keeping a soft and yielding smoothness just past a medium body and an ever present amount of sweet bourbon warmth and kick that never leaves. It has a great smooth and deeply rich bourbon character always keeping it really interesting and quite yummy. The finish is fabulous! Love that chocolate! A heavenly concoction! (1,861 characters)

Wow...this is one of the best bourbon aged beers I've ever had...what a treat this is...the nose smells like Knob Creek soaked in Brown Sugar....pours out a solid black with borwn highlight...no carbonation but it is out of a hinged pint bottle Big Hugey gave to me out of one of his growlers...The taste if outstanding...smooth..sweet brown sugar like flavors with abn excellent bourbon accent to it...body is medium...mouthfeel uncarbonated...finishs with a hit of alcohol...

I love this beer...one of my favorites from this brewery which is saying something and another example of why their brewer is tops in Minnesota by a wide margin...

BigHuge thanks to the Big Huge C for this one...what a treat... (711 characters)

Apparantly, this is the Town Hall's Oatmeal Stout aged in a bourbon barrel that was used to age an Imperial Stout previously. This beer was aged 3 months from what I was told.

I obtain a thin but tight creamy light brown head with a vigorous pour. The head has great retention. This beer is a deep and dark ruby red. Barely any light gets through. The lacing comes in sporadic rings. This fucker smells awesome. Huge chocolate tones mixed with vanilla bean, bourbon, wine and cedar. The carbonation is fairly light, but not out of place. Body seems to be about medium-full. The taste really follows suit with the nose, except maybe a little less of the chocolate tones and a little more of alcohol spice. There's an appealing lingering bitterness. Not sure what it's attributed to, but probably a combination of roasted malt bitterness, alcohol and maybe some hop bitterness (although that is probably a minor component). There's a nice bourbon kind of sweetness backing everything up as well. This is really nice.

When Town Hall puts out a barrel aged product, it doesn't disappoint. (1,092 characters)